The Algonquin

The Algonquin peoples are one of eight principal groups of the Woodlands First Nations.  They live in the Ottawa Valley and Laurentian Mountains, a land of lakes bordered by the grand, often raging Ottawa River that today separates Ontario and Quebec.  Their chiefdoms were patrilineal, and hunting grounds were also passed from the father.  Hunter-gatherers, their birch bark canoes exemplify the diversity and distance of the waters they paddled. 

In summer months, they grouped at fishing grounds; in winter months, extended families lived separately at hunting camps.  They knew the landscape, made excellent birch bark canoes, and trapped fine furs, all the envy of the French with whom they'd traded since the early 1600s.

The St.  Lawrence Iroquois controlled trade with the Dutch, and wanted to control the French market, so they barred European ships entry up the St.  Lawrence River in the early 17th century.  The Algonquins, with their allies and the French, defeated the Iroquois, changing trade routes from north-south, to east-west along the St.  Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean.

From the Algonquins' canoes, the French developed their Canot du Maitre (Montreal Canoe) for larger waters.  Similarly, the smaller Canot du Nord (North Canoe) was used on smaller waterways.